FS 289: Freelancing Foibles

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Kai Davis

In this episode of the Freelancers’ Show, the panelists discuss common mistakes that they have made in their freelancing and consulting history to help you learn from their mistakes. They talk about mistakes when it comes to raising rates, hiring employees, having a home office or not, and much more and how you can avoid them in the future. They also stress the fact that communication is key when it comes to keeping a health client relationship. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 

• Common foibles
• When raising rates, make sure to give your clients some advanced notice
• Want to make sure you don’t ruin your relationship with your client
• Put yourself in the client’s shoes
• How to properly raise your rates
• Communication is key
• Don’t get caught up in the illusion that you must hire other people to succeed
• Don’t discount your ability to sell yourself
• Only hire on an hourly basis not a full-time basis
• Don’t be afraid to fire people if you have to in order to survive as a business
• Hire people as sub-contractors
• Having an office outside of the house pros and cons
• Importance of having a separation of spaces in a home office
• The importance of following up with past clients to see if they have new needs
• Value-based follow-up
• Always start with a contract!
• You will be scammed by people in your career
• And much, much more!

 Picks: Reuven

• The Daily podcast

Kai

• Apple Home Pod